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Informationen zum Autor Aled Thomas is a Teaching Fellow in the Study of Religion at the University of Leeds, UK. He is the author of Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion (Bloomsbury, 2021). Edward Graham-Hyde is an Associate Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, UK and Treasurer of the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (Inform). Klappentext This book focuses on how 'cult rhetoric' affects our perceptions of new religious movements (NRMs). 'Cult' Rhetoric in the 21st Century explores contemporary understandings of the term 'cult' by bringing together a range of scholars from multiple disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, psychology, and religious studies. Ranging from the 'Cult of Trump' and 'Cult of COVID', to the campaigns of mass media, contemporary 'cult' rhetoric has become hybridised and is common vernacular for everyday people. The contributors explore these issues by analysing how NRMs have developed over the past decades and deconstructing the language we use to describe these movements.This book provides a renewed discussion of 'new religious movements', whilst also considering recent approaches toward a nuanced study of contemporary religion. Topics explored include online religions, political 'cults', 'apostate' testimony and the current 'othered' position of the study of minority religions. Vorwort An examination of past, present and future directions of the study of new religious movements (‘cults’), with a particular focus on the language in which they are discussed. Zusammenfassung Examining contemporary understandings of the term ‘cult’, this book brings together scholars from multiple disciplines, including sociology, anthropology and religious studies. Focusing on how ‘cult rhetoric’ affects our perceptions of new religious movements, the contributors explore how these minority groups have developed and deconstruct the language we use to describe them.Ranging from the ‘Cult of Trump’ and ‘Cult of COVID’, to the campaigns of mass media, this book recognises that contemporary ‘cult rhetoric’ has become hybridised and suggests a more nuanced study of contemporary religion. Topics include online religions, political ‘cults’, ‘apostate’ testimony and the current ‘othered’ position of the study of minority religions. Inhaltsverzeichnis Foreword: Introduction to the ‘Religion at the Boundaries’ Series – Suzanne Newcombe (Inform and the Open University, UK) and Sarah Harvey (Inform) Part I: Approaches to ‘Cult’ Rhetoric Chapter 1: ‘Cult’ Rhetoric in the 21st Century: The Disconnect Between Popular Discourse and the Ivory Tower, Aled Thomas (University of Leeds, UK) and Edward Graham-Hyde (University of Central Lancashire, UK) Chapter 2: Balancing Pragmatism and Precision: Inform’s Approach to Cult Rhetoric, Suzanne Newcombe (Inform and the Open University, UK) and Sarah Harvey (Inform) Chapter 3: A History of Anti-Cult Rhetoric, George D. Chryssides (York St John University, UK) Chapter 4: The Paradigm Shift from Sacred to Profane, William Sims Bainbridge (Independent Scholar) Chapter 5: The Dangerous Cult Exercise: Popular Culture and the Ongoing Construction of the New Religious Threat, Douglas E. Cowan (University of Waterloo, USA) Chapter 6: The Recognition of Cults, Roderick P. Dubrow-Marshall (University of Salford, UK) Part II: Contemporary ‘Cultic’ Issues Chapter 7: The Light of the World: La Luz del Mundo, Liminality, and NRM Studies, Donald A. Westbrook (San Jose State University, USA) Chapter 8: Cults of Conspiracy and the (On-Going) Satanic Panic, Bethan Juliet Oake (University of Leeds, UK) Chapter 9: ‘There is no QAnon’: Cult Accusations in Contemporary American Political and Online Discourse, Susannah Crockford (University of Exeter, UK) ...
